Why New Year’s Resolutions Fail and How to Succeed
Chances are that the end of the year has made you assess some of your 2024 New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps you, like us, bought a home spin bike or rowing machine in January. Most likely by March, you realised you’ve used it a lot less than you planned. And very probably by June, it has disappeared under a pile of clothes.
You are not alone. A recent Gallup survey shows seven out of ten adults plan to set goals for the next year. According to Statesman, the most common ones are health goals (exercise and diet) followed by saving money. This is why exercise equipment sales peak in January.
But research shows a quarter of us fail to stick to our New Year resolutions after just one week and more than half within six months. At the end of two years, only 20% succeed.
So why do we keep making resolutions – often accompanied by considerable expense – even though we keep breaking them, and what can we do to persevere? How can you redeem your spin bike? Recent insights from behavioural science hold some answers.
Why we try, and why we fail
You bought a spin bike because you are human.
Other animals do not exercise. Many of them are goal-oriented (they chase or flee), but only humans have the ability to pursue self-improvement to better achieve goals in the future. Exercise is an example of this.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow famously put self-actualisation – fulfilling your potential – at the top of the hierarchy of human needs. You want to be the fittest version of yourself you can be. It’s only natural.
The problem is that regular exercise involves willpower and discipline beyond most of us. Especially when faced with the choice between comfy couch and spin bike. Your ambition may be willing but your flesh is weak. Exercise hard.
This is because our brains evolved in the Stone Age when it made survival sense to loaf about whenever the opportunity arose. With limited food, our ancestors needed to conserve energy for the next chase or flight.
Self-regulation
But your bike is also a beacon of hope. Even though our psychology is often at odds with modernity, we have a trump card: the ability to self-regulate. At our best, we can override daily temptations and move towards longer-term goals.
Psychological research has identified two key ingredients to this (in addition to setting goals): monitoring your behaviour for any breaches, and correcting them whenever detected.
You’ve scored two out of three so far: you made the commitment to the bike and you noticed you failed to live up to it. Now it’s time to work on the correction.
Nudge yourself
Zen masters turn weakness into strength. You too can use the human psychological failings from our evolution to your advantage. This is known as self-nudging: changing your own choices to make your best decisions more likely.
An example is the “sunk cost fallacy”, our tendency to base decisions on irrecoverable past expenses.
Here is where the spin bike makes sense: having incurred the expense, you might have a greater motivation to go on your own new bike than to go to the gym. Membership can easily be cancelled, but the bike has been bought.
You could also go wholesale and use the very tools governmental Behavioural Insights Units use, on yourself. For example, policymakers use the EAST framework to make our desired behaviours easy, attractive, social and timely for us.
Turn over a new leaf
So should you try again in 2025? Yes.
The new year is a natural opportunity for self-improvement due to the fresh start effect. Psychologist found events that mark the passage of time (birthdays, holidays, new years) allow people to mentally consign their failures to the past and start again with a clean slate. It’s an uncanny tactic and it works.
The lesson is that the end of the year provides a great opportunity to ring in much-needed changes. But that’s not enough. You also need some simple strategies to help you stick to them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, making New Year’s resolutions is a natural part of human psychology, but succeeding requires more than just making a commitment. It requires self-regulation, self-nudging, and a willingness to learn from our mistakes. By understanding our own psychological weaknesses and strengths, we can turn our resolutions into successful habits.
FAQs
Q: Why do I always fail to stick to my New Year’s resolutions?
A: Research shows that a quarter of us fail to stick to our New Year resolutions after just one week and more than half within six months. At the end of two years, only 20% succeed.
Q: What are the most common New Year’s resolutions?
A: According to Statesman, the most common ones are health goals (exercise and diet) followed by saving money.
Q: How can I redeem my spin bike?
A: You can make it easy, attractive, social, and timely by using the spin bike at home, in front of the TV, with a trainer, and with a social group.
Q: What is the best way to make a resolution stick?
A: Set clear goals, monitor your behavior, and correct any breaches. Use self-nudging and self-regulation to turn your weaknesses into strengths.
